


Day 129

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [129]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24078175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [129]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257





	Day 129

Hawke was, once again, in a frozen wasteland. Demons were notoriously unimaginative but this was starting to get ridiculous. He could feel their approach, the icy fingers of despair pulling at his mind.

“You failed the elves,” they whispered. Despite himself, he believed them. It was hard to dismiss the demons as liars when there was ample evidence of his shortcomings.

“Merrill is better off wil Noll.” That was a new whisper. It was probably just as ture.

“They can give her the happiness you could never.”

“She dosen’t need you anymore.”

“She had moved on.”

“And that’s a good thing.” Hawke felt Compassion rally to his side. “Her happiness is what’s important.”

“But can they be trusted?”

“They might betray her and it will be your fault for abandoning her.”

“You didn’t abandoned her,” Compassion said, laying a warm, if spectral hand, on Hawke’s shoulder. “Sometimes people need to grow on their own.”

“You fight against the inevitable.”

“Kirkwall will burn and there is nothing you can do.”

“Every problem you fix only leads to more death.”

“Who do you think you are?”

“You’re nobody,” said Compassion. Not exactly what Hawke was expecting from his companion. “You are not a legendary hero, or the heir to the throne. You are just a man doing his best, and that’s more than most. You care so much for the people around you and that’s enough. They see that and it gives them hope. You also have people who care for you.”

“No you don’t.”

“They come only to feast on your success, and they will abandon you the moment you falter.”

“In your darkest hour you will stand alone.”

There was a sudden burst of light and Hawke felt a great warmth wash over him. Wakefulness returned to him slowly. The room came slowly into focus. The ornate bedding and dresser were his mother’s insistence when they moved in and Hawke could not bring himself to change anything now. 

Hawke realized that he was not alone. He sat up abruptly coming almost nose-to-nose with Sandal. The young dwarf had his usual goofy grin plastered across his face. In his hand he held a stone carving that looked almost like a female Qunari. Where the boy had gotten it or why he had it now was a mystery to Hawke.

“What is that,” he asked groggily.

“Enchantment!” Sandal proclaimed with pride. Sandal offered the carving to Hawke who examined it with some degree of confusion. On the back of the figure there was a dwarven rune. Hawke had studied a bit of the old language and he thought it said hope.

Hawke reached out to the figure with his mind and felt the same warmth he had felt just before waking. The warmth that had banished the despair demons. It did nothing to lighten his mood while he was awake, but if Hawke guessed correctly, the statue would act as a ward against desperate demons in the future.

Hawke put it on his bedside table just as Bodahn came into his room with a piping hot cup of tea.

“He finally finished that has he?” he said, nodding to the statue.

“Finally?” Hawke asked.

“Enchantment!” Sandel said.

“He started working on it after your fight with the Qunari,” Bodahn explained. “I don’t know what for.”

Hawke took the tea and took a sip. It was delicious. “It’s to help me sleep,” he said. “Thank you Sandal this is a wonderful gift.”

“Enchantment!” Sandal shouted happily.


End file.
